I have been teaching myself to speak Mandarin and was surprised by how reasonably straightforward it is. Anyone else learning or interested in the language?
I think I might just move to China. If so I will definitely work on mastering Mandarin (supposedly one of the hardest languages to learn, because intonation is an important factor). Or I might move to Korea or Russia (I am a Slavophile). My goal is to learn to speak at least 4 languages fluently. Right now I speak English and conversational Spanish. I just need to perfect my Spanish and master 2 others and I am set. By the way, it looks like you are having a good time in Japan.
aye, Japan is amazing. It is home.Good luck with learning languages. I speak about 5 languages conversationally, but I would like to be much more fluent in them.
Yeh speaking/listening so far hasent proved to be very hard, i think the reason ppl say it is so hard to learn is because of the writing system
This sounds interesting. How are you teaching yourself? Are you using cassettes or CDs? Are you using books? Do you have access to native speakers?
I'm using the internet at the moment, it's actually quite effective. It gives you useful phrases and sound recordings etc, then quizzes at the end to test what you've learnt. It's pretty cool.
In Singapore, many people can converse in five or more different languages. Like I can speak English, Mandarin, Malay, Teochew(dialects), Hokkien(dialects), Cantonese(dialects)
that sounds similar to the people in South Africa. They're national Anthem is sung in 5 different languages throughout the whole song.
I'm going to study Chinese, mandarin and a little classical, at uni next year, but right now the most complicated thing I can say is "excuse me, where is the train station?" It's going to be great. As far as I can tell, and have been told, the only problem with learn chinese speaking wise is getting your head round the tones. And it's difficult to get into your head how simple the grammar is... it seems too straight foward.
yeh it's the tones that make it complex, much like Thai. I was actually speaking a little mandarin with my friend who lives in Taiwan (although his Mandarin is a mixture of that and Taiwanese). It's a beautiful language, but I still prefer Japanese.
Hi all, I'm still learning Mandarin, it's easier to learn than I'd thought it would be but I'm still having trouble with my tones, I guess I just need to practise more. x x x x x
I'd imagine most tonal languages would be a bitch like Chinese, Vietnamese & Thai. I don't think Japanese is reallly tonal though?
I love that signature, it's so cool. Thanks for the advice on tonal languages by the way. Take care. x x x x x
